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Using elements of robotics and scientific processes, Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler create sculptures and installations that explore the aesthetic, social and ecological effects of technological developments. In their works, material qualities of a visual and haptic nature are just as important as programmed processes, physical laws and chemical reactions.

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RE RE REcycled

plastic installation

plastic objects and installation recycelt-sein 2022 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
plastic objects and installation recycelt-sein 2022 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
plastic objects and installation recycelt-sein 2022 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
plastic objects and installation recycelt-sein 2022 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
plastic objects and installation recycelt-sein 2022 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
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Plastic objects can be recycled by crushing them into small pieces and forcing these under heat and pressure to melt into a new form - that's what many people know so far. But what about the already recycled objects, can they go through the same process again? Does the material stay unaltered no matter how often it gets crushed and melted again? Is there an end to the recyclability of plastic and at what point become structural and aesthetic changes visible or tangible?

A group of wrinkled, blossom-like sculptures in soft but vibrant colors and with glossy surfaces can be inspected. Unter a swiveling microscope a world of dust, inclusions, cracks and bubbles appears on the objects surface: hints of the multiple recycling runs the PLA plastic they are made of has gone through. Next to the objects are three heaps of small plastic bits sparkling in muted red, green and blue. A closer look reveals the various colors of the individual fragments in a heap, which are a beautiful result of the difficult task to create raw material in clear colors when crushing multicolored objects. With the microscope the sharp edges of the plastic fragments become huge scarps, showing the forces of smashing the plastic into small pieces.

Gefördert von der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (www.kulturstaatsministerin.de)

RE RE REcycled

plastic installation

RE:PLACES

generative installation

Robotic installation RE:PLACES 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Robotic installation RE:PLACES 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Robotic installation RE:PLACES 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Robotic installation RE:PLACES 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Robotic installation RE:PLACES 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
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As the material swells from the robots’ organs, it curls and warps until it cools and hardens in its final shape.

-> watch RE:PLACES on Youtube

At the beginning of the performative installation RE:PLACES, the space is already characterised by sculptures with expressive shapes and colours. On closer inspection, the objects show properties that seem untypical of their materiality - massive plastic that forms multicoloured, abstract structures and sometimes throws bubbles at the surface. The chunks, which consist of different types of plastic, originate from industrial production, where they arise as waste products from the cleaning of machines.
Moving through this scenery is a complex construction reminiscent of a planetary lander on three legs. In a branched funnel system, it transports different coloured granules made from plastic waste. The plastic material is heated and compressed in a cylindrical extruder in the centre of the robot and swells out as a colourful mass. The hot material curves and twists until it cools and solidifies into its final form. In creative processes lasting several minutes, the 1.70m high robot sheds the plastic objects and spreads them around the exhibition space like three-dimensional brush strokes.
The result is a variety of intertwined forms with glass-like surfaces and fascinating colour transitions - material properties that are not usually associated with plastic. The visual and haptic experiences enable an intuitive and aesthetic approach to the thematic complex around plastic and its problematic use. A new perspective on the materiality is stimulated to promote public discourse on plastics.

The title of the installation RE:PLACES is short for ‘Recycling PLA Closed-Circuit Extrusion Shaper’. The objects created during an exhibition can serve as raw material again and thus close the cycle.

RE:PLACES

generative installation

fading substance

degenerative installation

fading substance decompose process of plastic objects 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
fading substance decompose process of plastic objects 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
fading substance decompose process of plastic objects 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
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Fleshy-looking anamorphic objects reminiscent of organs or photophobic deepsea creatures are floating in an artificial environment. We watch them as they slowly age, become porous, and finally dwindle away—observing these bodies decay is a remarkable visual experience.

The footage was shot in a laboratory setup in which a small sculpture was immersed in a cylindrical container filled with caustic soda. The object is made of polylactic acid (PLA for short), a biodegradable plastic derived from plant-based raw materials. The decomposition, superficial at first, gradually distorts the sculpture until it finally breaks down into lactic acid and then into carbon dioxide and water. The disintegration process, which extended over several months, is documented minute by minute; due to the caustic bath, it occurred much faster than in nature.

As a long-term research project, the installation fading substance addresses our approach to biodegradable plastics and examines the temporal and chemical processes involved in the decomposition of PLA plastic in a visually palpable way.

fading substance

degenerative installation

News

Exhibition

The Glenkeen Variations: ArtNature/NatureArt
In the new Crespo Haus in Frankfurt we are showing two brand new works that we created as part of our residency in Ireland with the Crespo Foundation. The big opening is October 10th and the show runs until January 26.
Come and see
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Biennale

ENNOVA Art Biennale in Langfang, China
Two of our major works have traveled to China for the first time. RE:PLACES together with Vincent and Emily will inhabit the ENNOVA Art Museum for six months. October 27 to April 30.
Follow their journey
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Exhibition Tour

The Glenkeen Variations: With Or Without You
We're coming back to West Cork, Ireland to present our new works Nature Soft and Cho. I'm breaking up with you. Exhibition opening: 07.11. Goethe-Institut, Dublin | Artist Talk: 08.11. National Sculpture Factory, Cork | Presentation: 09.11. W.A.S., Ballydehob
Stay tuned
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Spitting Bot

robot sculptor

Spitting Bot robot skulpture 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Spitting Bot robot skulpture 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Spitting Bot robot skulpture 2021 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
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Mechanical and refreshingly original, this little robot fashions objects out of melted plastic. From a kind of beak, it squeezes out the colorful substance like a primordial liquid. The blobby cord coils in on itself, forming squiggles and loops that harden into a solid body. Once the resulting object is large or heavy enough, it falls over onto a pile of individual mini-sculptures, pulling tough strands with it. The technology used corresponds in part to that used in a 3D printer; the nozzle, which would ordinarily apply the material to a printing plate in a precise sequence of movements, points into the air and spits out the molten material in a seemingly uncontrolled manner.

Spitting Bot

robot sculptor

Siblings

light-active robot family

Siblings mini robotic artworks 2018 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Siblings mini robotic artworks 2018 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Siblings mini robotic artworks 2018 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Siblings mini robotic artworks 2018 by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
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The group of tiny robots sits quietly in the dark, but as soon as light hits their sensors, things get hectic. Like insects squirming under a rock, each Sibling starts to wobble in its own way—some of them dance, while others move more awkwardly; kept under a dark glass, the siblings can be playfully kept in check. The bodies of these unique relatives are made of plaster, with electronic components poking out at the top, like hairdos. Each family member has its own style.

Siblings

light-active robot family

From the Labratory

Vincent and Emily

interactive robot couple

Vincent and Emily 2013 robotic artwork by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Vincent and Emily 2013 robotic artwork by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Vincent and Emily 2013 robotic artwork by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Vincent and Emily 2013 robotic artwork by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler

Vincent and Emily

interactive robot couple

Makrocontroller

light sculpture

Makrocontroller 2021 light sculpture by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Makrocontroller 2021 light sculpture by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Makrocontroller 2021 light sculpture by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
Makrocontroller 2021 light sculpture by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler
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Shiny metallic conductor tracks cut across a deep black surface, forming a net-like pattern with moving dots of light shimmering in bright colors. The play of light brings to mind the nighttime twinkle of distant cities. On the other side of the square black construction is a skein of milky lines with light spreading in pastel tones.

The sculpture’s shape and design are based on the microcontrollers built into almost every electronic device today. The light visualizes the rapid movements of electrical signals. Because the semiconductor chip is greatly enlarged by a factor ranging from 1:100 to 1:100,000, the sculpture transports the hardware, which in the digital realm ordinarily goes unnoticed, into the sphere of urban space. At this scale, the chip resembles a road map displaying the connecting paths of human interaction: it’s an invitation to explore the basic building block of digital global networking and its influence on life on our planet.

Makrocontroller

light sculpture

Object c

breathing installation

object c, breathing installation by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler, 2016
object c, breathing installation by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler, 2016
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In a shallow black basin filled with clear liquid, a shimmering layer of dust has settled at the bottom, beneath the reflective surface. At the center is a small ring-shaped coil from which two thick shoots wind up to the ceiling and into the shadows of the building’s overhead installation. In the eye of the electrified ring, the particles arrange themselves in dark patterns, disperse, and reassemble in a regular rhythm, like a kind of breathing animating the intricate particle universe.

Object c

breathing installation

Amplified Entity

moving sculpture

Amplified Entity, moving sculpture by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler, 2016
Amplified Entity, moving sculpture by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler, 2016
Amplified Entity, moving sculpture by Carolin Liebl and Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler, 2016
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There’s a twitching and stirring: wave-like contractions ripple through a shiny copper body. A coil of thick copper wire forms a delicately articulated tubular shape with a smooth outer shell and a haphazardly branched system on the inside. Milky transparent strands with fine copper veins protrude from beneath the imposing object; once electricity runs through its veins, it takes on a strange life of its own.
The appearance and physical presence of the voluminous coil leave a wide berth for the imagination: associations include a human organ, a pupated larva, or a study of mechanical movement entirely outside the realm of human and animal life. The metallic body’s perspective seems to alternate between micro and macro: is this a small section of a larger, more complex system, or an independent (life) form? The strategies of abstraction and amplification create something deliberately ambiguous and even monstrous, alluding to the field of tension in which scientific and artistic exploration into artificial life and intelligence have always operated.

(Alexandra Waligorski)

Amplified Entity

moving sculpture

About

Carolin Liebl & Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler

Using elements of kinetics and robotics, Liebl and Schmid-Pfähler create sculptures and installations that explore the effects of technical developments on aesthetic and social aspects of life. In their works, material qualities of a visual and haptic nature are just as important as programmed processes, algorithms and physical laws.

Both artists studied in the class of Ulrike Gabriel and afterwards in the class of Julika Rudelius at the Offenbach University of Art and Design. As a duo, they graduated with distinction in 2017 and received their diplomas in Electronic Art under Prof. Julika Rudelius and in Sociology and Theory of Media under Prof. Dr. Marc Ries.

Liebl and Schmid-Pfähler founded the interdisciplinary studio house "Atelier Wäscherei". As part of a group of nine artists, they have converted the abandoned building of a former Offenbach laundry on their own initiative. Since 2019, it has offered a diverse community of artists space for encounters and individual work, is the nucleus of interdisciplinary group projects and regularly opens up as a venue for events to a broad public.

AWARDS, GRANTS

  • NEUSTARTplus-Stipendium, Stiftung Kunstfonds, 2023
  • Artists-in-Residence, Fliegendes Künstlerzimmer im Quartier, Crespo Foundation, Frankfurt am Main, 2022
  • recycelt-sein, Neustart für bildende Künstlerinnen und Künstler, BBK Bundesverband, Berlin, 2022 (Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler)
  • Artists-in-Residence, ArtNature/NatureArt, Crespo Foundation, Glenkeen Garden, IE, 2022
  • unreal plastic, Neustart für bildende Künstlerinnen und Künstler, BBK Bundesverband, Berlin, 2021 (Carolin Liebl)
  • Kunstpreis Kunst und Technik, Kunstverein Heidenheim, 2021
  • Brückenstipendium der Hessischen Kulturstiftung, Wiesbaden, 2021
  • HAP hessenweit, basis e.V., Frankfurt am Main, 2021
  • Hauptpreis der Darmstädter Sezession, Darmstadt, 2020
  • Stipendium für bildende Künstler*innen, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn, 2020
  • Projektstipendium der Hessischen Kulturstiftung, Wiesbaden, 2020
  • European Media Artist Residency, EMAP, FACT Liverpool, GB, 2020
  • Artists-in-Residence, Kunstarkaden Kempten, 2020
  • Artists-in-Residence, EASTN-DC Network, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, GB, 2019
  • Artists-in-Residence, INTER_WE, Espronceda Center for Art and Culture, Barcelona, ES, 2018
  • Stipendium der Stiftung der Frankfurter Sparkasse, Frankfurt am Main, 2016
  • Preis der Johannes-Mosbach-Stiftung, Offenbach am Main, 2014
  • Deutschlandstipendium, Offenbach am Main, 2013 (Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler), 2014 (Carolin Liebl)
  • BEN Award, B3 Biennale, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main, 2013
  • Artists-in-Residence, Goethe-Institut/ WRO-Art-Center, Wrocław, PL, 2013
  • Promos-Stipendium für São Paulo, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Bonn, 2013
  • Lab Award, Lab30, Kulturhaus Abraxas, Augsburg, 2012
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SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • RE:PLACES, Galerija Kresija, Ljubljana, SI, 2023
  • Nature Soft and Evil Materials, Working Artist Studios, Ballydehob, IE, 2023
  • Electronic Landscapes (with Manuel Rumpf), Darmstädter Sezession, Atelier Siegele, Darmstadt, 2022
  • Carolin Liebl und Nikolas Schmid-Pfähler, Kunstarkaden Kempten, 2020
  • WIR|ES, CADORO – Centre for art and science, Mainz, 2018
  • Feeling cosmic microwave background (mit/with Malte Sänger), Luis Leu, Karlsruhe, 2017
  • Amplified Entity, 1822 Forum der Stiftung der Frankfurter Sparkasse, Frankfurt am Main, 2016

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

  • 37C3: Unlocked, CCH, Hamburg, 2023
  • RIXC Art Science Festival: Crypto, Art and Climate, National Library of Latvia, Riga, LV, 2023
  • EASTN-DC Festival: Matte(R)ealities, Cardiff School of Art and Design, Cardiff, GB, 2022
  • Kinetismus: 100 Years of Electricity in Art, Kunsthalle Praha, Prague, CZ, 2022
  • NTAA’22, Liedts-Meesen Foundation, Zebrastraat, Ghent, BE, 2022
  • Device_art Festival, Kontejner/ZKM Karlsruhe, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, HR, 2021
  • Ars Electronica – EMAP Garden, online exhibition, 2021
  • move to … ecosphere, Werkleitz Festival, Kubus der Ex-Stasizentrale, Halle (Saale), 2021
  • Sapporo International Art Festival (SIAF), Sapporo, JP, online, 2020
  • 404 International Festival of Art & Technology, online broadcast, 2020
  • Habitat. Relazioni Trasversali, Casa delle Letterature, Rome, IT, 2019
  • 3D printing performance, Kunsthal vARTe, Varde, DK, 2019
  • The Only Stable Thing, Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo, Venice, IT, 2019
  • Parma 360 Festival, Chiesa di San Quirino, Parma, IT, 2019
  • B-Seite – Festival für visuelle Kunst und Jetztkultur, zeitraumexit, Mannheim, 2019
  • Robotics – Festival di Arte e Robotica, Centrale Idrodinamica, Trieste, IT, 2018
  • Prototipoak. International Meeting of New Artistic Forms, Azkuna Zentroa, Bilbao, ES, 2018
  • inter_nal movements, Espronceda Center for Art & Culture, Barcelona, ES, 2018
  • High Ends. Absolvent_innen Kunst der HfG Offenbach 2017, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, 2018
  • 34C3, Messe Leipzig, 2017
  • WRO Biennale: DRAFT SYSTEMS, National Museum, Wrocław, PL, 2017
  • European Media Art Festival, Kunsthalle Osnabrück, 2017
  • PERFORM!, Videonale.16, Bonn, 2017
  • Moths, crabs and fluids, Griffin Art Space, Koszyki Hall, Warsaw, PL, 2016
  • Asche zu Farbgut, Gaswerk, Augsburg, 2016
  • Eco Expanded City, WRO Art Center, Renoma, Wrocław, PL, 2016
  • GENERATE! – Festival für elektronische Künste, Shedhalle, Tübingen, 2015
  • 4+8+2, CADORO – Centre for art and science, Mainz, 2015
  • NODE Forum for Digital Arts, Mousonturm, Frankfurt am Main, 2015
  • Kunststudentinnen und Kunststudenten stellen aus, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, 2015
  • New Frankfurt Internationals II, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, 2015
  • International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), Dubai, AE, 2014
  • Nachwuchsförderpreis, Edith-Russ-Haus, Oldenburg, 2014
  • Paraflows, Künstlerhaus, Vienna, AT, 2014
  • Spielsalon, Fridericianum, Kassel, 2013
  • GOGBOT: EROTEC. Teledildonics: sex + technology, Grote Kerk, Enschede, NL, 2013
  • FILE Festival, Centro Cultural FIESP – Ruth Cardoso, São Paulo, BR, 2013
  • Toolkit Festival, AplusA Gallery, Venice, IT, 2013
  • WRO Biennale: Pioneering Values, Ballestrem’s Palace, Wrocław, PL, 2013
  • European Media Art Festival, Kunsthalle Osnabrück, 2013
  • B-Seite. Festival für visuelle Kunst und Jetztkultur, zeitraumexit, Mannheim, 2013
  • Lab30, Kulturhaus Abraxas, Augsburg, 2012
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PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

  • ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe
  • Van der Koelen-Stiftung für Kunst und Wissenschaft, Mainz
  • WRO Art Center, Wrocław, PL

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